New Old World
by Angels Prayer
Summary: Rated R for safety, Clara is an abused girl, after making some horrible things happen at her school she is on the run when somehow she gets transported to a world that she had never heard of before, Valdemar. I suck at summarys, please R&R!!
1. Prologue

OK... This is my first fic EVER, so go easy on me! Flames will only be used to heat my hot chocolate!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the poetry and the plot! Some of the characters are mine, but the majority of the characters and other names belong to ML! Don't waste your time trying to sue me, I'm broke! ^_^

"Speech" _ :Thought: _*Action*

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Prologue.

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I listen to the yelling...

" If I had known how stupid you were, I would have never agreed to marry you!!!"

"You should have known how stupid I was the moment I asked YOU to marry me!!!"

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Hear the glasses break...

*Glass is heard shattering*

"How dare you say that about me."

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I cover my ears

But I still hear their voices...

"You're nothing but a worthless slut!!! Just like your whore of a mother was before you!"

"That's NOT true!"

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As the tears stream down my face.

Why do they have to fight?

Why can't they get along?

Why must I have to be the one

to hear this all day long?

"It is!! You're a slut, just like your mother, and your daughter will be one too!"

"I am not! MY daughter? You mean OUR daughter; she's your child too!"

"Don't lie to me slut!! With THAT hair and THOSE eyes, there's no way that she's mine!"

"I have always been faithful!"

"LIAR!"

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For me, everyday is a night...

*Upstairs, something is heard making contact with flesh, followed by a heavy thud.*

"Felicity?"

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With darkness all around...

*A young 10 year old girl gets up and walks over to the stairs, she watches through the banisters as her father drops the fire poker and kneels down beside her mothers still form.*

"Mommy?" She whispers quietly.

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For they have destroyed what little hope I had...

*The girl slowly walks back to her room, she is crying silently and in her heart she knows that her mother will not get up. Yet a small part of her was happy, she would never have to hear her parents fight again and her mother would be abused no longer.*

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The hope to find a way out...

*The girl picks up a knife that she had taken from the kitchen earlier. The shiny metal blade is stained from all her tears, she looked at it as she thought of all the pain she has suffered through in her few, short years.*

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A way other than death...

*Gently, she put the blade down and picked up a bottle of Aspirin, it was almost full.*

"Won't be full for much longer..."

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Now there's only one exit,

that remains open to me...

*She slowly opened the bottle and put a few pills into her hand. After looking at them for a few moments, she popped all of them into her mouth and swallowed them before she had the chance to choke and spit them out. Soon, the bottle was empty.*

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A bottle, a knife...

*Again she picked up the knife, but for one brief moment, she hesitated.*

"Do I really want to die?"

*Memories of past abuse go through her mind, ending with images of her mothers lifeless body lying in a pool of blood. She shudders at the memory.*

"Yes."

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This will end my misery.

*Slowly she pressed the blade into her skin, she watched as her blood came pouring out. Feeling like she was in a trance she watched the blood pour out as she pulled the knife down her arm, stopping when it reached the palm of her hand. Fascinated, she did the same to her other arm and just sat there, watching as her blood flowed freely from her body.*

*Sirens are heard off in the distance.*

:_Odd.: _She thought to herself as she slowly lost consciousness. :_I thought it was supposed to hurt more than this...: She_ blinked once and her eyes focused on a picture of her mother, not noticing that she had fallen to the floor. _:I guess I'll see you soon, wait for me, mother.: _With that last thought in mind, she closed her eyes and gave in to the darkness, letting unconsciousness overcome her.

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Jake was still kneeling next to his wife's still form when the Ambulance arrived. He did not move when the Medics lifted her onto the stretcher, nor did he tell them the truth when they asked him what had happened. He hadn't even thought of his daughter until his wife's half sister, Monica, came rushing into the room.

"What happened?!"

"She tripped and banged her head when she fell, I tried to catch her, but I was too late."

"Does Clara know? Is she alright?"

"Clara?"

"Your daughter!"

"Oh... no, she doesn't know."

"I'll go tell her, she must have heard the sirens and is probably scared, oh Jake, how will she handle the news? Poor child."

Monica quickly walked up the stairs, figuring that Clara would be sitting in her room, waiting for someone to come and tell her what was happening. She opened the door and saw the unconscious girl lying in a spreading pool of blood, an empty bottle of aspirin and a bloody knife lying on her once white bed sheets which were soaked with crimson blood. She screamed and felt sick as she ran down the stairs, holding Clara's body to her chest. The medic who was questioning Jake looked up when she heard the woman scream, when she saw the bloody girl in said woman's arms, she quickly left the mans side. _:He's lying_ _like_ _crazy anyway, pity_ _I can't prove it_.: and quickly took the girl from the woman, gently laying her on the cold marble floor to see what could be done. 

The child was a deathly white, and when Jane checked for a pulse, she found none. She tipped the Childs head back, pinched her nostrils closed and covered the Childs open mouth completely with her own. Slowly she breathed into the child two long slow breaths. _:Good, there's nothing in her throat at least: _She thought as she saw the Childs chest rise and fall. Her partner, Alex, was trying to calm the woman down, but Jane wasn't listening. All her attention and energy was focused on saving the small child in front of her, she didn't hear Monica when she told Alex about the Aspirin. Jane's body had done CPR so many times that she had no problems with getting into the rhythm; _:Landmark, compress, breathe, pulse. Landmark, compress, breathe, pulse. Come on kid, you can do it! Breathe! Live! Landmark, compress, breathe, pulse.: _Jane again checked for a pulse. _:Was that a beat? No... wait, yes, it was!: _Jane breathed a sigh of relief when the child started breathing, deep, sucking breaths. _:She's not conscious, but that's to be expected, those wounds look deep.: _Clara was loaded onto a stretcher. _:Wow, I didn't even hear the other Ambulance coming! I must have been more focused than I thought!: _The doors where closed and the child was rushed to the hospital, Alex looked like he was worried, but somehow Jane new that the child would be alright.


	2. Bad news

Chapter 1; Cliffhanger.

"Slut, slut, you're a mutt! Slut, slut, you're a mutt!"

"After all these years you'd think that they'd be able to come up with a different rime, but no."

Clara muttered to herself as she walked into her classroom.

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:Damn, teacher's not here yet.: She thought as she sat in her desk, trying her best to ignore her classmates as they continued to insult her. She was so used to being teased that she now found it pretty easy to ignore. Still, it was a relief when she heard the teacher enter the classroom, but her relief turned to horror when she heard what the teacher was saying.

"Hello class, I'm... well, my last name is rather difficult to pronounce, so you may call me Mr. B. I'm sorry to inform you that your old teacher has been in a terrible accident..."

"I bet she was drunk!" A student interrupted rudely. 

"...and will no longer be able to teach, so for the rest of the school year, I will be your teacher. Any questions?" He asked, ignoring the student who had spoken earlier.

For the past month Clara had been having nightmares about her half Aunt being in an accident, the nightmares had been so realistic that every school day she had almost wept with gratitude when she saw her Aunt walk into the class room to teach. Aunt Monica had been her only friend, her protector, the only Teacher in the whole school who hadn't let the students torment her. Clara could not keep her mouth shut, she had to, needed to know if her Aunt was going to be ok. _:Please God, let her be alright.: _She thought desperately.

"Is she going to be ok?" Her quiet voice asked though she had the sinking feeling that she already knew the answer, but still she needed to know for sure. For once she didn't even care that the rest of the class was staring at her.

Mr. B. Looked very uncomfortable, but, after a moments hesitation decided to answer her question truthfully. "No. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but Miss Scopo did not survive the accident."

Clara felt the blood drain from her face, memories of her Aunt rushing through her mind. Clara remembered her Aunt, how kind she was, how helpful she had been after her mothers murder. No one knew what had really happened that night, just her and her father. As long as her father lived, no one would know.

Mr. B. looked as though he was going to say something else, but was distracted by the intercom requesting that he go to the principals office, cursing at Mr. Parkinsons timing, he promised his class that he would be back shortly and left the classroom, completely unaware of the disaster that was about to occur. 

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Like it? Hate it? Wanna read more?? Well, if you want more you know what you'll have to do!

Review! If I even get 1 positive review I promise I'll upload the next chapter!

P.S. In the next chapter spooky things start to happen and ML stuff is introduced, no worries I'm getting to Valdemar, you'll just need to be a little patient!! ^_^ 


	3. A Way Out

Hello! OK, the suspense is over, here's where ML stuff comes into the picture!

Thank you for being so patient!

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As soon as Mr. B. left the room the class was abuzz with whispers.

"What do you think happened?"

"Bet ya anything that she was drunk."

"Naw... I don't take suckers bets!"

"He's right though, she probably caused the accident herself!"

"Did she drink?"

"Ya! I happen to know for a fact that she'd chug back at least three bottles a night!"

"How do you know that?"

"She lived next door to me! I saw the empty bottles in her Recycling Bin! Besides, I'd probably drink a lot too if I had Clara as a niece!"

"CLARA is er... was her niece?! Are you serious?"

"Yup."

"No way! Well, if Clara was her niece it probably wasn't an accident!"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on! I know that if I were related to Clara in anyway, I'd kill myself! I think it was suicide."

*Laughter*

"Yeah, you're probably right!"

Clara sat there, stunned as she listened to the cruel things her classmates were saying. Her body trembled with a rage that she could barely suppress as memories of her aunt flooded through her mind. She remembered the kind woman who had gently cleaned and bandaged her cuts, who had kissed all her bruises better. Monica had never known who had given her those cuts and bruises, Clara had always said that she had gotten them while playing. Clara still didn't know why her father had gotten so mad when he found out who it was who had been helping her, all that she knew was that before she was permitted to leave the house, and suddenly she wasn't. Her father didn't even want her to go to school, but he knew that keeping her locked up at home would only draw attention to himself, and with his past attention was definitely NOT a good idea. So instead he permitted her to go to school, but she was never allowed to visit her aunt again. Clara had thought that she would never see her aunt again and was very happy to enter her new class for grade 8 to discover that her aunt would be her teacher for her last year before moving on to High School. This school year had been the best year of her life because her aunt had always stopped the teasing as soon as she entered the room. Clara would always treasure the memory of seeing the looks on her classmate's faces whenever her aunt punished someone for teasing her. It was with those memories in mind when she did something she would never have done were the situation any different.

She stood up, and defended her aunt.

"You're wrong! My aunt NEVER drank! And she would have never even _thought_ about killing herself! My aunt was the kindest, most caring woman in the world! She _loved_ me! She _cared _for me!"

Clara said, panting with rage. She didn't even realize that she was now standing, she was so angry.

The classroom suddenly became very quiet. Greg was the first to get over his shock.

"Well what do you know, the slut's taking a stand! Your aunt was nothing but a worthless drunk and a slut! Just like you!"

The rest of the class had overcome their surprise and now joined in the teasing.

"Yeah, slut!"

*Class laughs*

Clara was struggling to control her anger, inside she felt something trying to break out. Clara didn't know what it was but somehow she knew that if she lost control of that... thing, something bad would happen. She didn't understand what exactly, all she knew was that she could not allow herself to lose control.

Greg chose that moment to step forward.

"Yeah you're nothing but a slut, just like your mother."

"Slut, slut, you're a mutt! Slut, slut, you're a mutt!" Her classmates started chanting.

That was all it took for Clara to lose what little control she had over the darkness inside of her. Inside her, the wall that had stood between her and the darkness broke. Her vision went red and then black as she let the darkness take control. Around her objects had begun to fly around the room, but Clara couldn't see. She didn't see it when the windows shattered, didn't see the desks start slamming into the corner where the students, who had been tormenting her only moments before were cowering. She didn't know that the shards of broken glass were flying at the students, cutting their skin. All she knew was the screaming. _:What's happening?: :What's going on?: :What did we do to deserve this?: :Please God, don't let me die!: :MOMMY!: _Clara was scared, she didn't know what was happening to her or around her, but somehow she knew that those thoughts were NOT coming from her. She felt herself getting weaker as the darkness continued to have its way. _:I have to stop this.: _She thought as the screams around her started to get cut off. She struggled to regain control as she felt her body continue to run out of energy. Around her the screams had stopped and she no longer heard other peoples thoughts. The darkness seemed to sense that there was no one left to be angry with, so it withdrew its control over Clara, leaving her feeling exhausted and completely drained.

Clara lay on the floor, trying to catch her breath. Slowly she got up, not daring to open her eyes cause a part of her knew that she did not want to know what had happened.

"Hey class, I'm back! Sorry I took so..." 

Mr. B. stood in the doorway, having just returned from the Principals office. He stood there, shocked as he looked around at what only minutes before had been a neat and tidy classroom. Now all the desks and chairs were all in one corner of the room. The windows were broken, blood was on the walls and there was a spreading pool of crimson on the floor. He carefully walked over to the pile of desks but stopped when he saw the bloody corpses that had been his students. Slowly he turned around and saw the student who had asked about Ms. Scopos well being earlier.

"What happened here?" He asked the shocked girl.

Slowly Clara opened her eyes. She looked around her and saw the blood, the windows, the pile of desks in the corner. She walked over to the desks, knowing that she most definitely did NOT want to know what else was over there but still needing to know. She stopped, sickened, when she saw what had become of her classmates. Some had been impaled on desks, others on chair legs. All of them had been pierced with glass, all were dead, and they all had the same look on their faces, the look of pure terror.

Mr. B. walked over to the girl, he grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"What happened?" He demanded.

Clara looked into the eyes of her new teacher. His face was white as snow, red lips pressed tightly together. His short black hair still looked neatly combed and his gray eyes were narrowed, as if somehow he knew that what had happened was _her_ fault. _:If it weren't for the short hair and those eyes, I'd swear I was looking at Snow White!: _It was that surprising thought which allowed Clara to shake of her shock and answer him.

"I... I don't know what happened! It was an accident!" She choked out. 

Mr. B. Looked released her, an expression of complete disbelief spreading over his face. Clara saw a way out of there and decided to take it. Quickly, before he could stop her she ran out the door and down the hallway. Behind her, she heard MR. B. chase after her, but she was in her element. All her life bullies had chased after her and she was now an expert at losing pursuers. She sped around a corner and push open the door to the stairs, then quickly spun around and darted into an empty classroom. She crouched down behind the door, which she left partially open. Keeping her ear near the crack she listened as Mr. B. ran around the corner and listened as he fell down the stairs in his haste to catch up with her. Repressing a chuckle, she waited a short while behind the door to make sure that the coast was clear. Carefully she opened the door and looked up and down the hallway, it was empty. Quickly and quietly she got up and sped down the hall, heading _towards_ her old classroom, knowing from experience that that would be the last place where Mr. B. would think to look. When she reached the classroom she walked straight over to the window, carefully not looking around because she knew that if she did, she'd be too sick to get away. She leaned out the window and carefully planned out her jump. The class was on the second floor, but there was a gentle slope leading away from the school so she'd be able to roll when she landed. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and jumped. She landed with her knees bent to help absorb the impact and rolled down the hill to dispel her momentum. When she stopped rolling, she slowly checked her body for injuries as she caught her breath. When she had made certain that she was unhurt, she got up and ran to her house.

When she reached her house she quickly unlocked the door and ran up the stairs to her room. When she entered the closet that served as her bedroom, she grabbed her mothers old back pack and started stuffing it with clothes. Under things and other unmentionables went in first, followed by the few shirts and jeans she owned. As she packed the clothes she fought hard not to cry. It had been her aunt who had bought her those, her father had never once bought her anything in her life. All the clothing she owned fit into the pack and there was still plenty of room. She grabbed a small bear from her bed, another gift from her aunt, and put that in the pack also. Following that went her brush, a small journal which had her poetry written in it, a few pens, a lighter and her small collection of scented candles. As an afterthought she also added a tiny photo album full of pictures her, her mother and her aunt. Leaving the pack, she went over to her fathers room and grabbed the jar he kept that was full of money. _:Ugh, it's heavy.: _she thought as she tried, and failed to lift it. She tipped the jar over onto its side and rolled it into her room. She screwed off the lid and dumped the money out onto the floor, noticing with dismay that the jar was way too heavy and too big for her to carry in her pack. She looked at the pile of coins on the floor in front of her _:figures, no bills.: _and tried to think of a way to carry it all without it being noticed. 

Her eye's strayed back over to her fathers room and she remembered the bag that her father used to hold his condoms, it had a zipper and would be perfect. Trying not to think about how many times she had watched, horrified, as he had opened that bag, she went back to his room and fetched the bag, leaving the condoms on his bed. When she returned to her room she filled the bag with her fathers money and put it into her pack. Certain that she had all that she needed from her room, she stuffed her small pillow in to her pack and took it downstairs. She took her moms old sleeping bag from the closet and went over to the kitchen to see if there was any food she could bring with her. Unfortunately all that was available was a loaf of bread, a small jar of peanut butter and a bottle of milk. She sighed but still considered herself lucky to even have this available to her, since her father usually ordered pizza for meals. Clara wondered briefly what those pizzas had tasted like since all she had been given to eat was the crust, which her father didn't like. She put the food and milk into her pack and tied it shut, she then tied the sleeping bag to the outside of the pack. _:Well,: _she thought as she stood up, looking around at her house, she never could make herself call it a home. _:Guess that's everything... wonder where I'll go? Don't know, but if I don't know maybe no one else will know either. I should leave, it probably would be just my luck to make it this far only to get caught standing here!: _And with that thought in mind she left, locking the door behind her.

Clara had only just turned away from the door when it hit her. She was aware of falling as a darkness seemed to grip her very soul. Her vision clouded over as overwhelming pain gripped her body. Her mind screamed its agony as her fear rose. The pain seemed to last an eternity, though it probably was only a few seconds before it all got to be too much for Clara. As she felt unconsciousness come to claim her she gave into the comforting darkness gladly, relieved to feel the pain fade away.

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Miles away... and in a different world.

Queen Selenay looked at the mage in front of her. His filthy robes were torn in several places, his body was covered with dirt and several cuts. She could not tell what color his hair was due to all the filth. She could barely see his eyes looking at her from his swollen face.

"Are you certain?" She asked.

The man nodded, wincing as though the move caused him pain.

"Yes your Majesty. A Dark Mage has crossed your border, blood magic is in use once again."

"But what has he been sacrificing? There have been no villages complaining of missing people, and while animal sacrifices do give the mage _some_ power, it's nothing compared to the amount of power collected from a human!"

"So far, he has only used animals. But he has collected enough power that he can get himself a human fairly easily! He has found a way to bring a human to him, a human from another world! He has the power and the skills he needs."

"If he has all he needs, why doesn't he have anyone yet?" FireSong asked, the rest of the council murmuring in agreement. 

"Time!" The mage said.

"He needs time to find someone appropriate from that world! Someone strong in spirit, someone who will not be missed! Someone who will have a natural fear of men so he can feed off that fear! You must stop him, stop him now! Before he finds that person!"

Talia sat in her place next to the Queen. She sensed that there was something else that the man was not telling them.

"What's his motivation? He must know that he alone can't take over the kingdom!"

"He doesn't want just this kingdom! He wants the world!" He looked like he was going to say more but was interrupted by everyone laughing. Everyone except Talia.

"How could he possibly hope to reach that goal?" She asked when the laughter subsided. 

The mage sent her a grateful glance before he answered.

"This man has an unusual gift, one I have never seen before. He has the power to travel through time. That's why he needs a human, as soon as he collects enough power from his victim, he will be able to go back in time and build a gate. Don't you understand? If he gets a human, he can travel through time and bring back enemies that had already been defeated in the past! Ancar, Master Dark, he can even bring back Maar!"

A stunned silence was all that came from the council as everyone tried to comprehend what the man was saying. As usual FireSong was the first to get over his shock. 

"If he can go back in time, why doesn't he just travel back to the time _before_ the mage storms happened? To the time when there were nodes and ley lines and magic was reliable?" He asked.

The mage smiled slightly for the first time.

"Because, he doesn't know how to use them! Blood magic is the only magic he knows how to use!"

"Well, why doesn't he simply sacrifice some people from the past?" SilverFox asked.

"He doesn't dare! What if the person he used turned out to be a grand parent? He never knew who his family was, the only relative he knew was his brother. His brother is a mage himself who knows how to defend himself and used his power to escape!"

How do you know all this?" Talia asked quietly.

"I know of all this because... because _I'm _his brother." He admitted, ashamed to have to admit to being related to such slime.

Talia wanted to say something else, but then powerful waves of emotion hit her. _Confusion, Fear, PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! FEAR! _She fell to the floor, struggling to block the emotions out as she tried to track the emotions to their source. She had just found the general area when suddenly they stopped, as if whoever they were coming from had lost consciousness. Slowly she got up, around her other councilors were getting back to their seats. SilverFox was helping FireSong get up. Talia made eye contact with him.

"You felt it too? I knew you were an Empath, but I didn't think your Empathy was that strong!"

He shook his head. "No, I didn't feel any emotions, but the magical backlash! I fear that I will have a headache for months!"

"Where did it come from? Could you trace it?" Selenay demanded.

Talia and FireSong looked at each other, then both turned to the queen.

"Sorrows." They both said at the same time.

"Was that your brother?" SilverFox asked the mage, who had gotten very pale. The councilors all looked at SilverFox, then focused their attention on the frightened mage before them.

He nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid so. He has his victim." He looked defeated. "We're too late." He said.

"That's not... quite, true." FireSong said, everyone turning to him in surprise.

"Blood magic takes time... and with the amount of magical energy it takes to build gates, we have at least a month to find and rescue this unfortunate victim before this man has enough power to do what he plans."

"One month? To search the whole forest? Are you mad? That forest is huge!" The mage blurted.

Silence was the only answer that his outburst received. 

"Well then." Selenay said quietly, ending the silence. 

"We had best get started. Sorrows is a big forest, and we have a long way to go before we get there. Talia, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask you to leave your son, Dirk can take care of him. I'm afraid that we'll need your gift to help find this person. FireSong you go to, you're still the most powerful mage that we have. Kero, you and Alberich should go with them, you're our best fighters and I do believe that Jeri is skilled enough to teach the trainees a thing or two in your absence. I know that Sorrows is big, but between the four of you it probably wont take long to find who you're looking for. Can any of you think of anyone else who should go along?"

Four hands instantly went up.

Kero spoke first. "I'd like Keisha Alder to come. She's young but she's also the best healer I know. She has a son but the hunger and her sense of duty will be enough to convince her to come."

Firesong spoke next. "I too would like for Keisha to come, but I would also like Elspeth and Darkwind to join us as well. They are both Adepts and both have experience in the woods. I trained them both and trust them with my life, we work well together and I would rather not have to fight this mage on my own." 

Talia and Alberich both put their hands down.

Selenay looked around at every ones faces and, seeing no one else wanting to speak stood up.

"So it's settled then? No one has any other suggestions?" She asked. No one said anything.

"Very well. You all have a very long day ahead of you tomorrow, I suggest that you all pack your things and at least _try_ to get some sleep." She said, directing the last comment to those who were paired.

"This meeting is over. Firesong, Talia, Kero, Alberich, Elspeth and Darkwind." She said, looking all of them in the eye. "Good luck." And with that the meeting ended. Some councilors went off to socialize, others to prepare for tomorrows journey. Some went off for private goodbyes and to make up with friends whom they had fought with. No one knew what the following month would bring, all they could do was pray.

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Hey! Sorry about the wait! I'm kinda making this up as I go along and I'm probably the slowest typer in the world! Sorry that my insults haven't been that creative, I promise that I'll work on it! If anyone has any suggestions or favorite characters that you want me to add in this, let me know and I'll see what I can do! Thank you for reading and don't forget to review!!! ^_^


	4. Unwanted Surprise

Hey! I'm so glad that you're enjoying this! Sorry this is taking so long, but I'm not going to have much time to type this up as I have a TON of school work to do and THREE exams to study for!! So I'm afraid that it's going to be awhile before the next chapter will be ready to be uploaded, sorry!!

Thanks for reviewing!!

To the nameless reviewer; Ok, I changed her age just for you!!

To BubblyOne; Alright, I promise that Altra and Karal will be key characters in the story, especially Altra! ^_^

To Missy: I know I SUCK at insults!! I'll work on it though, promise!!

To Rosethorn: Aw... you're so sweet!! I'll have to read your stories sometime, it's only fair!! ^_* 

Anywho... on with the story!!

Warning: This chapter contains rape and torture!! Consider yourself warned!

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Altra and Karal also headed to their room to pack for the journey. Altra had originally been planning to go alone, but Karal had instantly caught on to him and had convinced him to let him come along. 

"I still wish that you'd tell me exactly why you want to go." Karal grumbled as he opened the door to the set of rooms he and Altra shared.

"I mean, I know that you're a mage and all but I'm sure that Firesong, Darkwind and Elspeth can handle anything that this dark mage can do!" He added as he hunted around the bottom of his wardrobe for his travel bags.

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:It's not the mage. I'm sorry Karal but I can not tell you why it is vital for me to go.: Altra said sadly.

"Sunlords orders?" Karal asked. Altra did not answer but Karal could tell by the way that the cats mind felt that he was right. He also knew that when it concerned the Sunlord, it was pointless to get Altra to talk.

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:I wish that you wouldn't insist on coming.: Altra whispered into Karals mind.

"I know, but I want to come. Besides, I could be useful! This victim that we're supposed to be rescuing probably wont understand our language and we both know that I'm the best at mime. I'm also a Channel as you well know, maybe that will come in handy."

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:I'm surprised that you can even THINK that after what happened the last time you Channeled energy!:

Karal shuddered as he remembered that horrible time that had saved the world, but had cost him his vision. He hadn't ever Channeled since then and, he admitted to himself, he still didn't want to. _:Not ever!:_ He thought, keeping that thought carefully sheilded from Altra.

"I'm surprised too, but if it's necessary then..." He shrugged, leaving the sentence unfinished. 

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:I understand. Now you had best start packing and go to bed, if we're to be up on time and feeling rested.: 

"Yes, oh master of the sun. Ruler of all things, mage of all mages and wisest of the wise. Right away oh Lover of garbage and all that smells... OW! Hey what was _that_ for??" Karal demanded as he rubbed the area where Altra had bit him.

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:That will do.: Altra said.

"Humph, see if I ever compliment _you_ again! Stupid cat." Karal grumbled. 

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:Bigot:

"Tail chaser!"

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:Nerd.:

"Mouse breath."

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:Actually I had chicken for dinner, idiot.:

"Fish guts for brains!"

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:No... however I did have fish for breakfast, bookworm.:

"Pussy!"

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:OK, that's it! Now you're getting personal! This means war!:

Karal had expected Altra to jump on him and had braced himself for the tumble. However, that wasn't what Altra had in mind. Instead of merely knocking Karal over, he closed his eyes, leaving Karal totally blind.

"Ok Altra, this is NOT funny! Let me see!" Karal said.

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:Nope! Not until you apologize!: A very amused Altra replied. 

"Ok ok, I'm sorry! Now will you let me see? Please?" Karal begged.

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:Hmm... I'll think about it.: Altra teased.

"Altra!!" Karal said sharply.

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:Oh alright already! I was only teasing! You know that I would never leave you with out a set of 'eyes': Altra said, opening his eyes again.

"You were going to when you left for Sorrows tomorrow." Karal pointed out.

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:Was not!! Another Firecat would have been sent to help you!: Altra objected.

"Oh... well, that's different then. Let's start packing ok? Are you going to inform the Queen of our travel plans?"

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:Yes, I'll take care of it when you go to sleep. Now pack boy!: Altra demanded, giving Karal a playful shove towards his chest.

"Yes oh merciful one." Karal started.

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:Pack!:

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The next morning everyone met at the edge of Companions field. No one seemed surprised to see Karal and Altra there, however they all were shocked to see a very nauseated looking Keisha standing there with three ill looking _Dyheli. _

"Gryphons." Keisha told them with a slight smile.

Firesong simply nodded and walked up to one of the _dyheli. _He didn't say anything out loud but everyone could tell by the way he was walking that he was deep in conversation with the stag via mindspeech.

Karal stepped forward and bowed deeply.

"Thank you for coming, with you this journey will be much faster." He said formally.

He turned around and looked at the others.

"Everyone ready?" He asked.

Everyone nodded their agreement.

"Then let's go."

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Clara woke quickly, shaken by the strange dream that she had just had. _:That was so weird. I was running from the school, but why?: _she thought as she tried to remember, only to find that she couldn't. _:I remember that I was preparing to leave the house and then... nothing. Why was I running away?: _She laughed at herself for trying to make sense of a dream and tried to get up, only to discover that she couldn't move. _:What the...?: _She thought. _:Why can't I move?: _She didn't have to wait long to get her answer. 

"Well well, you're finally awake I see." A strange masculine voice said.

Clara tried to speak but realized that she couldn't. She knew that she was completely defenseless, totally at the voices mercy.

"I see that my voice is unfamiliar to you. Don't you recognize my voice?"

Clara realized that she had heard that voice somewhere before, but no matter how hard she concentrated she couldn't remember who it belonged to.

"Still don't know who I am?" The voice taunted.

"Here, maybe _this_ will help you remember." The voices said as a strange light formed in the air. A masculine figure stepped into the light and as Clara looked at him she suddenly knew that what she had awoken from was no dream. She also remembered what had happened to make her run from the school. She stared, terrified at Mr. B's grinning face.

"Ah good, I see you've remembered! I still don't know what you did at the school, but the amount of power I collected from that classroom was more than adequate to meet my needs! I would have let you go but the way you left was quite rude, and I fell down the stairs in my haste to catch you. So you see I couldn't let you go free, I had to teach you a lesson ! That is after all what teachers are for, yes?" He said, grinning madly.

He walked closer to the terrified girl. Before Clara knew what was happening he had untied her and taken the rag out of her mouth. She looked up at him, trying not to let her fear show as she tried to figure what he was going to do next. 

"And now my white haired, strange eyed beauty." He said, smiling cruelly. "We play."

Clara only had a brief moment to comprehend what he was planning to do, then the first blow came.

Clara's head snapped back as she felt his fist connect with her jaw. His second blow knocked the wind out of her as it connected with her stomach. Blow after blow connected with Clara's body, each one leaving painful bruises. Clara had never had such a hard beating in her life, even her fathers had been _nothing_ compared to this! If Clara thought that the beating hurt, it was paradise compared to the pain she felt when he took her. Again and again he entered her, slamming her head against the stone floor every time she tried to fight. When he had finally satisfied his sexual hunger, he took a long vine that he had found quite by accident, growing in a change circle. He placed the vine on the girls stomach. The vine quickly wrapped itself around the girl and constricted itself, piercing her battered body with its thorns. The girl screamed in agony and started to struggle.

"I wouldn't try to fight it if I were you. The more you move the tighter it will get." He said cruelly.

The last thing Clara heard before she lost consciousness was his laughter, echoing off the walls.

*************************************************************************************

Talia was clinging on to Rolans mane, leaning as close as she could to his nect to cut back his wind resistance when it hit her. She was so surprised that she had no time to stop herself from falling off Rolans back. He wasn't running his fastest but it was still more than quick enough for falling to be fatal. As Talia hit the ground she only felt pain for a brief second before blackness took her.

Rolan squealed in agony as he and the others stopped. Keisha was the first to dismount and reach the dying Talia. She knelt by the womans side and went into her healing trance, everyone else stayed silent, not wanting to distract her. _:Oh, this is not good! I have no where near enough energy to heal THIS! Still I have to try.: _Keisha thought as she saw how much damage had been done. She sent ray after ray of emerald green healing energy, healing muscles and tissues. But there was too much damage done and she didn't have the strength to heal it all. _:Oh no, I'm going to lose her! I haven't had to heal injuries this bad since I healed Steelmind up North! Even then, I was only able to do it with help from... a Companion.: _Just as she thought this, another voice spoke into her mind. _:Keisha, Healer, use my strength.: _Rolan said and added his strength to Keisha's. Keisha welcomed the blast of power Rolan sent her and with renewed energy healed Talia faster that she had ever been able to heal before. Suddenly there was nothing left to heal and Rolan cut off the flow of strength. Keisha swayed with exhaustion but with more help from Rolan recovered quickly. Only to see that while Talia's body was healed, her heart wasn't beating and the woman wasn't breathing. 

"Bloody HELL!" Kero swore as she quickly bent down next to Talia. She placed both her hands on the center of Talia's chest and started pushing down in time with her own heart beat. Everyone watched anxiously as she continued to do this, praying for Talia to live. After what felt to the observers to be an eternity Talia's body jerked upward as Kero supported the woman who was gasping for breath. The Humans all cheered, Aya and Vree flew up into the sky and performed an aerial dance to show their joy, while the companions and _dyheli _dropped all their dignity and started bucking for joy. Karal had to suffer through several minutes of disorientation, as Altra started running around in tiny circles is his excitement.

High above them they thought they heard a gryphons victory cry, but they ignored it in favor of questioning the now fully recovered Talia.

"What happened?" Everyone asked as one.

"I... I don't know." Talia replied shakily. 

"I was riding when suddenly I felt terror as I have never felt since..." She left the sentenced unfinished as she looked towards the area where the hand print was burned into her skin.

"I was so surprised that I had no time to stop myself from falling, that's all I remember." She finished.

"Are you ok now?" Kero asked.

Talia nodded.

"Alright then. Talia, lets get you strapped into that saddle, I don't want to risk you falling again." Alberich said gently.

"Right." Talia agreed.

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Well, that's it for now!! You know the drill, REVIEW!

As I said before if anyone has a favorite character you want in on this, just let me know and I will work it in! Don't worry about the time line!! I am always open to suggestions!!

Thanx for reading!! 


	5. Lady of the Mist

Chapter 5: The Lady of The Mist.

YIPPEE!!!!! I ACED all three of my Exams!!! Now I'll have more time to type this!!

*Calms down.* Sorry about that!!

Anyway, I think that this would be a good time to make a small confession. I've failed every one of my English classes, except for one, which I **barely** passed. Thought it only fair to let you know...

Well, enough of this!! On with the story!!

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Clara was floating in a tunnel of silver mist. Ahead of her the tunnel seemed to get darker and she raced towards the darkness, knowing that as soon as she touched it all her pain would end. She was almost there, smiling, she opened her arms to welcome the darkness. Around her the silver light of the mist suddenly intensified and swirled in front of her, clouding her vision and making her lose sight of the darkness. Soon the mist had gotten so thick that she couldn't move, she struggled in vain to get to the darkness, wanting nothing more than for her suffering to end.

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:Sorry Clara, but I cannot allow that, You'll thank me for it later.: A feminine voice said in Clara's mind.

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:Who are you? How do you know my name?: Clara asked.

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:All your questions will be answered, but later. For now Clara, all you need to know is that you must LIVE! I know that things haven't been going well for you, but there's hope! Look, and see for yourself.:

In front of Clara the mist started to swirl faster and the light intensified. In the center of the light Clara could see a picture begin to form. In the picture she could see eight people riding what looked to be horses and _:goats??:_ She thought, trying her best not to laugh. They were riding on a snow-covered path with tall trees all around them, they were obviously in a hurry.

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:Those people are on their way here to rescue you. Do not be afraid to trust them for they are your friends and will be your allies in the times that are to come.: The voice continued.

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:Times that are to come?: Clara asked.

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:Yes, much is resting on your shoulders and I'm sorry to say that for you, the suffering has just begun. But you need not suffer alone. Another will be with you soon and when that one comes, you will never again suffer from loneliness, for you will never again be alone...: The voice began to fade and with it went the mist. Clara felt herself start to float back towards consciousness and tried to fight it, only to awaken in the cave, alone. 

********************************************************************************************

Elspeth felt sick, very sick as she watched the scenery speed by. 

__

:Gwena my sweet, I don't recall you ever being able to run this fast before.: Elspeth said as she tried to control her jumping stomach.

__

:I'm doing a kind of 'Fetching' only with us instead of and object, that's why you feel so sick.:

:I didn't know you could do that!: 

:We all can. However, we have certain rules that we have to follow and as a result this has only been done twice before, once when Rolan came to warn Selenay of Ancars attack, and the only other time I know of was back in Vanyel's time!:

:Gwena, I thought we agreed not to keep any secrets.: 

:I'm not keeping secrets pet, anyone can know this but we're only allowed to use this ability in an emergency.:

:Oh.:

:We'll be at the forest soon and then we'll stop to give you all a chance to recover and Talia an opportunity to find the exact location of the dark mage's victim.: Gwena promised.

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:I hope so.: Elspeth thought darkly, sending images of a puke covered white horse at Gwena.

__

:Oh you are cruel! Well in case you haven't noticed, we're here.:

Elspeth looked around and saw the familiar tall trees. _:Oh, so we are.:_ She slowly looked over her shoulder and looked at Talia. The older woman was paler than usual and had a slight crease on her forehead. 

"This way, follow us." She said without even coming out of her trance.

"With his speed, it's not like we have much choice." Kero grumbled, her nausea had put her in a foul mood.

Firesong looked as though he were about to say something but Rolan choose that moment to speed off, leaving everyone else to scramble after him and try to catch up.

********************************************************************************************

The group rode down the main road for a while, but soon left the road and headed down several paths that, oddly enough seemed to be man-made. 

__

:Vanyel must have made these: Altra said into Karals mind.

Ahead of them, Rolan made a sudden turn and jumped off the path. Karal struggled to keep and eye on him as they jumped around trees and boulders. They skidded across a frozen pond (which probably would have been a pretty funny sight had the situation not been so serious) and jumed over a tall line of bushes. Karal had begun to feel that they may _never_ find this victem on time when Rolan disappeared .

__

:Hold on, this one's going to be a BIG one!: Sayla warned him just before she jumed over a very large hedge.

They landed in a small clearing. Over to one side was a frozen waterfall and river. _:Frozen waterfall? But that can't be... that waterfall is much too big to be frozen like that... unless..: _Karal looked around at the grim looks on his friends faces.

"Talia, please don't tell me that this person we're supposed to be rescuing is in that thing!" Karal pleaded.

Talia shook her head. "No... not in it, behind it." She said quietly.

"Well" Kero said. "This should be interesting."

********************************************************************************************

Sorry that this chapter is so short, I promise to post the next one soon!!

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	6. Chosen Visions

Ok, here it is!!! Hope you enjoy it, and for all of you that have reviewed, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

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Firesong studied the frozen waterfall using his mage sight, trying to figure out what had been done. Seeing how simple the spell was, he surprised everyone present by doing a small spell of his own.

Everyone, including those without mage sight, were able to see what was happening. First, the ice began to glow. Talia gasped in wonder as she saw fire spread over the waterfall, melting the ice. Soon, all the ice had melted and the river was flowing swiftly once more. Firesong switched back to his normal vision and looked at the shocked expressions on his friends faces. 

"What's wrong? You all look like you've seen a ghost! Has Vanyel returned from the dead... again?" An amused Firesong asked.

Elspeth looked around and asked in an odd voice "did you all see what I saw?"

Kero shook her head.

"I don't think we all saw the same thing, how could we? Not all of us have mage sight. I think we all should say what we saw, it might be important." Kero looked around and slowly everyone nodded in agreement.

"Right, I saw the ice turn black with white specs, it was like looking at the night sky. Kinda odd, since it's only noon. The constellations kept changing. Alberich, what did you see?"

"I saw the ice glow red, it was like I was watching a fire burn _in_ the ice, a fire the color of blood. Talia, what was it that you saw?" 

"I saw the ice glow then burst into flames. In the flames I saw a young girl riding on a beautiful winged horse. At first I thought that the horse was Windrider, but then I saw that this horse had a horn in the center of it's forehead. Windrider has no horn though... Karal?"

"I too saw it glow and burst into flames, but I saw no girl, nor did I see a winged horse. I saw a magnificent firecat with a time candle between its paws, the candle kept changing height. Keisha, how about you?"

"I saw the ice glow emerald green, then a tree grew _under_ the ice. The leaves changed from green to the colors of fall, then fell from the tree and disappeared. This happened many times and then half the tree disappeared. I looked at the rings and they kept changing numbers. Darkwind, why don't you tell us what you saw?"

"The ice went dark and I saw a bird of light flying in the ice, chasing the darkness away. Elspeth, what was it that you saw, that has shocked you so?"

"I saw the ice glow blue. Silver clouds formed and I saw a young girl riding the horse that Talia described. They were flying in the clouds and a large, dark hand was following them, trying to catch them."

"Well, as fascinating as all this sounds, we have another problem to deal with," Firesong cut in, before they had a chance to go into a debate over what their visions could mean.

"Oh? Like what?"

"That." Firesong pointed towards the falls. The water was flowing swiftly, completely blocking the way to the victim. 

"Oh, that."

*************************************************************************************

"Couldn't we just chop down a tree and have it fall across the top of the falls? Wouldn't that stop the water?"

"How? We didn't bring any axes."

"Magic?"

"Too risky. We could burn the forest down, the tree could land on us, it may start an earthquake.."

"Um... Firesong, we get the idea, magic's out."

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:Actually, it might not be.: Altra walked to the center of the clearing where everyone could see him.

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:I, as you all know, am a Firecat. I am a powerful mage and can call fire with relative ease. It does take a lot of energy now, thanks to the mage storms, but if Elspeth, Darkwind, and Firesong channel their power to me, I should be able to create a fire going over the water at the top of the falls. The water would get evaporated, some fish will get cooked for our lunch, and Kero and Alberich would be able to get in, grab the victim and get out. However, there is two problems with this. Either tonight or tomorrow we'll be in for the worst blizzard Valdemar has ever seen, and after I'm finished with my fire, the demonic trio will be completely drained, totally useless. Even more so than usual.: Altra finished.

Elspeth glared at Altra, but choose to ignore his last statement. 

"Does anyone have a better idea?" She looked around the circle and looked into each set of eyes, it was clear that no one _liked _the idea, but as no one could think of a better solution, everyone shook their heads. 

Elspeth nodded, once. "Alright then, lets get to it."

********************************************************************************************

Altra sat facing the waterfall, Firesong stood to his right and five paces behind him, Elspeth was standing ten paces behind him, while Darkwind stood five paces behind him to his left. Altra had been warned that being in a meld with Firesong was different and had braced himself for the effects, he had been expecting a _physical_ difference and was completely unprepared for what happened. It was perfect, he was overwhelmed with joy and peace. Gone from his mind were the reasons he was being sent such power, gone was all things that mattered. The only thing that mattered was the joy, all that was important was that nothing happen to end that peace.

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:Hey Altra, you gonna do something or what? We can't do this all day! Hurry up already!: Elspeths irritated mind-voice cut into his head, distracting him from what the meld had made him feel. With that distraction came knowledge and memory of what he was supposed to be doing rushed back to him.

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:Oh... ah... right, sorry...: Altra said sheepishly, secretly glad that cats can't blush.

He focused his attention back on the waterfall and concentrated on fueling the fires inside him and sending them from himself to the falls.

********************************************************************************************

Kero, Alberich, Talia, Keisha, the Bondbirds and the four-feet watched as a line of fire suddenly sparked to life across the water. Soon, the water stopped flowing and a giant cloud of steam was rising to the sky. The smell of cooking fish soon filled the air, making empty bellies grumble. Kero and Alberich saw their chance and ran into the cave. They came out looking confused and grim, Alberich holding a bloody bundle in his arms. Keisha instantly took her cloak off and lay it out on the ground, signaling for Alberich to place the figure there. He then went out into the woods with Kero to find some dead fall for a fire. Keisha kneeled next to the figure, reaching for her medicine bag, but stopping when she saw what was wrapped around the girl. 

"Damn! And they say that poison is a woman's weapon, like to see the look on their faces now," she said angrily. 

"What do you mean?" Talia asked, leaning over to see what had brought that comment from the healer.

"See this vine? See the thorns? Those thorns contain the deadliest poison known to man. They've only been known to grow in change circles, I though that they had all been destroyed, looks like they missed some."

"You mean you can't help her?"

"No, there is no antidote. There is nothing I can do, we're too late."

"How much time does she..." Talia was abruptly cut off. Keisha turned to see what was wrong and saw a look of pure dumbfounded amazement on the shocked woman's face.

"Talia, what is it?" Talia stared at her, too stunned to speak.

"Talia?"

"Rolan just spoke to me... he told me to tell you to look closer... he says, look at her in healing trance..."

Keisha understood why Talia was acting so weird, she knew that she had no mindspeech. She also knew that it was generally unwise to argue with a Companion and went into her trance. She came out a minute later, looking much like Talia had when Rolan spoke to her. 

"I don't believe this."

"Believe what?" She stared at the body in front of her, then looked into Talia's eyes.

"I don't know how, but the poison has somehow been neutralized. All her injuries have been healed, she's exausted but other than that she's physically fine."

"But how... I mean, the blood..."

"The blood's hers, but the wounds have already been healed... I think I need to sit down..."

"You are sitting down."

"Oh..."

"Something tells me that Elspeth isn't going to like this..."

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"...and I refuse to be manipulated on some damn game board of chance!" Elspeth fumed. She had been going on like this for hours. It was almost midnight. Keisha and Talia had cleaned the girl and had dressed her in a spare set of Kero's whites. She was sleeping peacefully wrapped in Firesongs white rabbit fur cloak by the fire. Altra had given up on trying to calm the hot-headed woman down and was sitting by the fire watching the sky, as if he were expecting someone. The Companions were gathered around him, the _Dyheli_ had left a long time ago, not wanting to witness Elspeth's infamous temper in action.

"What's going on? Who's there?" A young, frightened female voice asked.

Elspeth instantly shut up as everyone ran to the fire. The young girl was sitting up, white hair glowing orange by the light of the fire. Everyone stopped when they saw her eyes. They had no irises, no pupils, they were black with white specks, it was like looking at the night sky. 

"Oh! You're the people that the lady showed me, she said you were coming! What did you do to the man? Is he gone? Did you kill him? What happened?"

"Lady? What Lady?" Kero asked.

"The Lady who was in the mist, the one who wouldn't let me die. Hey, how come I can understand you? You weren't speaking English!"

"You mean, the language that we're speaking in isn't your native tongue?" 

"No."

"Interesting."

"I think it would be best if we introduced ourselves, I'm..."

"Oh, I already know who you all are. My name's Clara."

"Well Clara, it's nice to meet you," a voice said behind them. Everyone turned around in surprise as An`desha, Treyvan and Hydona joined them. 

"The Lady told me you were coming. She gave me a message to pass on to you. Karal is needed."

"Karal is needed? Needed for what?" Elspeth asked, suspicious. She looked at Karal, the young man was pale but looked determined.

"I think I know Elspeth," he looked over towards An`desha. "You need me to Channel again, don't you." An`desha nodded, face grim. "Very well, let's do it now, before I have a chance to chicken out."

He and Altra walked with then close to the center of the clearing. Elspeth, Darkwind and Firesong clued into what was about to happen and moved as though to try and stop them, but were cut off by the Companions and the Griffons. 

********************************************************************************************

Karal already knew what he was supposed to do. The non-humans were going to send their energy to him, and he in turn was to channel that energy to An`desha. _:Sure, no problem, piece of cake really... I am so going to die.:_

:You are not going to die: Altra said into his mind, Karal knew that the thought was sent to his mind only.

__

:That's what I'm afraid of! Luv you, Cat.:

:I love you too, Karal: Karal was surprised and touched, he had been expecting sarcasm.

Karal was trying to think of something more to say when he felt the magic hit him. Then there was no time for talk, no time for anything. All there was time for was the pain, and the light! Energy coursed into him from several sources. Inside him _something_ managed to join those streams of energy and hold them. He felt An`desha reach out to him, the powerful stream of energy found it's outlet. Karal briefly sensed An`desha doing something with that energy, but then he felt his control over the power slip. He focused all his attention on the power inside him, concentrating on keeping it under control. It seemed like an eternity, but finally the power stopped, Karal collapsed, completely spent.

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Clara watched all this, not understand what everyone was so upset about. She gasped as Karal began to glow. She saw a bright stream of light reach from Karal to An`desha. An`desha raised both his arms to the sky, light spread from his out stretched-arms, forming into a column. A dark hole appeared in the column and the light seemed to get sucked into the center of it, until all that remained of the light was one small dot. The dot started to get bigger, bouncing as if it were running. _:But dots can't run...: _

Clara gasped in wonder as she saw what had to be the most beautiful creature in existence jumped out of the hole. She watched as it flew around them once, before landing in the exact center of the clearing and _posed_. It was a truly beautiful sight, with the waterfall behind it, the full moon making it glow. It's coat was the purest white, it's glowing white mane and tail flowing close to the ground. Silver hooves gleaming in the moonlight, it's eyes, Clara noticed, were the same as hers, reflecting the night sky. It's horn seemed to be unable to decide what color it wanted to be, it kept changing from the colors of the sun to the colors of mist, it was truly a beautiful sight. It folded it's beautiful wings, also white, to it's sides and walked towards her. Slowly, as if trying not to frighten her. 

She looked into its eyes, and felt her self falling into the starry pools. It was amazing! It felt like a joining, a losing and a finding, a loosing and a binding! She felt love as she had never felt it before and answered that love with all her soul. She felt protected and safe, and deep in her heart she felt that never again would there be loneliness... 

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:You need never again suffer from loneliness, for you will never again be alone... I will always be with you, Clara.:

:What is your name?:

:My name is spirit. I have another title, as do you, but not yet... now let's return, and make all right.:

:Wait, before we go, will you tell me one thing? Please?:

:Ask, and we shall see.:

:How is it that I can understand what everyone is saying?:

:A gift, from your soul-mother.:

:My soul-mother? Who's she?:

:She... is the Lady of the Mist, you will be able to understand all languages.:

:But how...?:

:Later child, later.:

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Sorry that took me so long, I had a temporary writers block!!! *Don't you hate it when that happens?*

Hope you guys liked this chapter, next one's coming soon!!! Honest.

Please review, the more reviews I get the faster I'll type the next chapter!!!

If there's a favorite character you want in on this, just type the name and it's in!! 

Till next time!!!

Note: I took a few things from ML's books and used them in my story. I did this when Karal was channeling and when Clara got chosen. Sorry if this has disappointed you, I know that I'm kinda disappointed in myself, but it was the only way I could work with that writers block. I promise to try and keep it all 'original' in following chapters. I'm also sorry to tell you that I wont be able to post the next chapter for a few weeks, I recently got 6 math exams that I need to do. Also I have a TON of Christmas shopping still to be done!! I've already bought lots of stuff, but my list just keeps getting longer and longer and... you get the point. I think I may have accidentally borrowed a line from ML when Elspeth was ranting, I'm not 100% sure, but if I did... oops? Sorry. 

Anyway, if I don't post the next chapter before the beginning of January....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 

...and...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!


	7. Not a Companion

Elspeths temper was on a short leash, her patience was almost non-existent. To make things worse she had gotten a major headache. 

"Ok, tell me if I've got it right. Clara has just been chosen by that... thing." The 'thing' snorted in indignation and Clara glared at Elspeth, who in turn ignored both of them. An`desha felt that he was in for a long night as he replied.

"Yes, and that 'thing' as you described him has a name. Call him Spirit please." 

"Fine. He's not a companion..."

"No, sorry sister, your 'Windrider' hasn't been reincarnated."

"But he's Clara's companion..."

"Partner would be a better term, in this case."

"Did you create him?"

"No."

"Was he ever a human?"

"No..."

"Then where in blazes did he come from?!" Elspeth said, starting to loose control on her temper.

"I don't know who created him, nor why he was created. All I know is that I was walking the moon paths when I was instructed to come here. I was told to open a gate to nowhere and help guide something through. It's generally unwise to argue with anyone on the moon paths so I obeyed. Obviously Spirit is what I and the others were helping."

"ARG! Ok, fine. So what are we supposed to do with Clara then? And I don't suppose that whoever-it-was told you what happened to the dark mage? I thought he needed more magic, yet he left his victim here to die. What is going on?"

"Train Clara. Teach her to fight and teach her the use of her gifts. Do NOT train her to be a herald! She has a different destiny to discover. As for the mage, I don't know."

"Um... excuse me? Who is this 'dark mage' that you guys are talking about?" Clara asked nervously. Elspeth turned to her.

"He's the one who did those horrible things to you, who took you from your world and brought you here."

"I see... how could he possibly get magic from me though?"

"When a creature is hurt or scared it unleashes a certain energy. That energy can then be used by a mage, we call that energy 'blood magic' as a lot of it is released when blood is shed. We call people who use that energy 'blood mages' or 'dark mages' as it is a horrible thing to use... what's wrong?" Clara had suddenly become very pale, her partner nuzzled her, concern in his eyes.

"Before... before I lost consciousness he said something to me... he said that thanks to something I did back in my world he had all the energy he needed... the only reason he brought me here was because I was rude and he wanted to teach me a lesson." Elspeth stared at her in shock.

"All the energy he needed? That's a helluva lot of power! Clara what did you _DO?_" 

Clara looked down as tears came to her eyes.

"I... I don't know what happened! My classmates were being cruel to me, and... and I felt this rage take control of me... things went all dark, there was a lot of screaming... when I could see again all my classmates were dead... he was there, and I ran and..." she choked and lost control, she turned and buried her face in her partners neck. The people in the clearing stood silently, the only sounds were those of Clara's heart-wrenching sobs. Talia and Keisha silently walked over to the girl, giving her what little help they could. Kero and Alberich walked off to make plans for the battle that was to come, Firesong, Elspeth and Darkwind followed. An`desha looked over to Treyvan and Hydona.

"You know what this means..."

"Yes." Hydona answered, sadness and worry in her voice.

"Yes, we know exactly what this means." Treyvan said, rage and fear was written all over his body and he spoke clearly, without even a hint of his usual 'Griffon accent' as he turned to face his beloved. 

"We must fly to the clans, warn them about the war to come. Tell them to prepare the mages," he then looked in the direction of the clans. 

"prepare them for the return of Maar." 

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Authors note: Yup, I know this is short. Sorry it took me so long *stupid exams* I am still working on this fic, I haven't forgotten about it!! Happy Holidays!!!

Oh, and don't worry. The mystery of Clara and her odd partner will be explained in time!! Till next time!!


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